Carley Garner, Senior Analyst ad Broker with DeCarleyTrading on Trading and the Market

Investing.com Broker Interview Questions:

1. Please give us a brief introduction about yourself - What is your position? What is your professional background?

I am a senior analysts and broker for DeCarleyTrading, located in Las Vegas Nevada. DeCarley trading is an Introducing Broker for PFGBEST; we offer access to the futures, FOREX and options markets. I've been a registered (NFA/CFTC) derivatives broker since March of 2004 and have loved every minute of this fast paced and action packed business. Clients of ours are provided access to a plethora of research reports written by some of the industry's top analysts as well as newsletters we develop in house at DeCarley including The Stock Index Report, the Bond Bulletin and the DeCarley Perspective. FOREX clients enjoy the Trading Central FX newsletter and those opting to execute trades via the popular MT4 platform are provided complimentary access to Autochartist. Autochartist actively scans FX charts for price pattern recognition and alerts traders to possible trading opportunities.

2. Who is your target audience? DeCarley Trading caters to traders of all shapes and sizes, and are happy to do so. Our clients range from small traders just getting their feet wet, to large and experienced traders that trade for a living.

3. Why should a trader choose YOU over another provider?• Self-directed online FOREX and futures trade placement or broker assisted (full service) order entry via phone, email or text message (during designated U.S. market hours).• Ability to quickly execute orders via broker or trade desk 24 hours should you experience technical issues.• Reliable and resourceful service available nearly 15 hours per day!• Access to DeCarley Trading client newsletters, Trading Central FOREX newsletter, and the popular Hightower commodity research newsletter.• State of the art trading platforms• MT4 users have access to AutoChartist research!• Direct access to a competitive ECN (Electronic Currency Network) with several banks and institutions as liquidity providers (AKA tight bid and ask spreads).o Avoid dealing desk brokers that act as the counterparty to client trades (trading against the house).• Access to PFG's competent and friendly support staff!

5. What other services do you offer your customers to support their investment decisions and/or trading?Unlike most FX brokers that provide clients with a platform and an "emergency only" telephone number, those trading FOREX with DeCarley have access to an experienced broker nearly 15 hours per day by telephone, instant message, email and even text message. Clients are also provided with several market research reports and analysis tools such as Autochartist, the Trading Central FOREX newsletter, the popular Hightower Research Report and internally generated futures trading newsletters (The Stock Index Report, the Bond Bulletin, The DeCarley Perspective...).

6. Walk us through opening an account with your company.Opening an account with us is as simple as completing a 5 to 10 minute online questionnaire regarding your contact information, trading experience and financial background. Our application is 100% electronic and account numbers are typically issued within a day of completion.

7. What advice do you have for someone who is just starting to trade the markets?Paper trading is a great way to get familiar with the trading platform you will be using and perhaps finalizing a trading strategy, but it is a horrible method of testing trading ability. We believe that trading success is 90% dependent on mental stability and only 10% strategy. Therefore, spending months or years paper trading likely won't improve your odds once you go live. Trading with your hard earned money is the only way to gain the experience you will need to survive in this game; however, lessons taught by the markets can be expensive and painful so....start small! We recommend traders "practice" trading with 10,000 units of a currency pair; this gives them the feel of live trading without unbearable amounts of risk. Keep in mind, it is easier to add to trading size than to take it away once it is determined you are overleveraged.

8. What would you say are the most common mistakes traders make? What are some of the best trading practices to keep in mind?Unfortunately, beginning traders often risk more than they can afford to lose and utilize too much leverage; each of these practices is an antagonist to the overall goal of successful trading. Not only do such behaviors reduce the amount of room for error but they also enhance the psychological stress of trading. In addition, trading smaller positions give traders with ample margin the ability to dollar cost average into their position. For instance, a trader that wants to be long 100,000 units of the EUR/USD will likely be better off purchasing increments of 10,000 hoping to execute the latter contracts at a lower price than going all in at the current price. After all, if the market rallies before the trader is able to get off the entire 100,000 at cheaper prices...that isn't such a horrible scenario, but going long 100,000 all at once only to watch prices plummet is.

9. What’s your view on the economy? What are the implications on the currency, equity and commodity markets?We tend to be optimists when others are pessimists and vice versa. We feel like it is important for traders to understand that markets are forward looking and often price economic booms and busts in advance. For instance, it is certainly possible for risk assets such as equities to rally in anticipation of an economic recovery despite the current environment being dire. Similarly, FX traders should pay attention to trade over-crowding. The Euro is famous for luring mass trend-followers into the market only to reverse course in extreme fashion and with little forewarning of a reversal. Such a move can occur purely due to speculative exit from a popular trade and is often counter to what are believed to be currency market fundamentals. Simply put, trade what you see not what you think and refrain from following the herd to slaughter.

Risk Disclosure:Fusion Media will not accept any liability for loss or damage as a result of reliance on the information contained within this website including data, quotes, charts and buy/sell signals. Please be fully informed regarding the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, it is one of the riskiest investment forms possible. Currency trading on margin involves high risk, and is not suitable for all investors. Before deciding to trade foreign exchange or any other financial instrument you should carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite.Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. All CFDs (stocks, indexes, futures) and Forex prices are not provided by exchanges but rather by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual market price, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Therefore Fusion Media doesn’t bear any responsibility for any trading losses you might incur as a result of using this data.